That leaves approximately $21.7 million to spend, though a few players need extensions first. Goaltender Steve Mason will be due a big raise once he is eligible to sign an extension on Jan. 1. Steve Downie is set to become an unrestricted free agent and already earns $2.65 million. Brayden Schenn, Michael Raffl and Erik Gustafsson are all restricted. The Flyers also will need to find a deal for Ray Emery or look for a new backup.

If the Wild can’t sign free agent and former Gopher Thomas Vanek of the New York Islanders after the season, look for them to pursue Hastings native Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers. Either player would provide the one additional scorer the Wild need to contend for a Stanley Cup.

The Leafs also don’t have many other options at the moment. With Trevor Smith already with the big club, the Toronto Marlies are having issues at centre of their own, and only 34-year-old grinder Jerred Smithson has much NHL experience.

The other alternative would be to sign a player like veteran free agent Vinny Prospal, although the Leafs cap situation is incredibly tight and made more difficult by all of the injuries up front.

Vinny Prospal is out there, a free agent who has been known to provide some pop and crackle, even if he won’t win even a single foot-race; a free agent who was a popular and productive Ranger for a couple of seasons not all that long ago.

Brenden Morrow has a quiet determination right now. If he wasn’t so nice, you’d even say it was a chip on his shoulder.

Let’s just call it a quiet determination.

Morrow is out of work. The former Stars captain was traded to Pittsburgh last spring, had a nice little run, and then was allowed to become an unrestricted free agent. Two months later, while camps are buzzing and rosters are filling up, he doesn’t have a job.

Since it was revealed that Tim Thomas told his agent he was interested in making a return to the NHL next season, it’s been pretty much all quiet on the ‘tender’s front.

If you have been keeping score at home you would know that at this point there are hardly any teams still in the need for a No. 2 goalie, let alone a No. 1. A simple guess would say there’s really nowhere left for Thomas to sign as noted by Al Muir of SI.

But hope is not lost yet for Thomas. According to Jimmy Murphy of ESPN Boston, there still is interest in Thomas but first things first.

Per NHL source teams are interested in signing Tim Thomas for upcoming season but other dominoes must fall first before he would be signed.